In a manufacturing operation it is frequently necessary to make up or repair drive or conveyor belts. This procedure typically consists of joining two ends of a section of belting to form an endless belt. Such procedures are described in my copending application Ser. No. 07/758,877 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,933) as well as in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,590.
As a rule a plurality of U-shaped clips, which may all be connected together, are stapled to each belt end so that they can be interleaved and a connecting pin can be slid through them. This forms the clips into a sort of hinge that solidly connects together the belt ends while still permitting it to flex.
Each such clip or connector typically is made of metal and has a pair of legs adapted to embrace the respective belt end and a bight portion interconnecting the outer ends of the legs. Each leg in turn is formed with at least two throughgoing holes that align with the holes of the leg on the opposite face of the belt, and staples are driven through the registering holes from one side of the belt and are crimped over on the other side.
The main problem is ensuring that the staples pass through the preformed holes in the legs of the connector clips. This is not a problem on the upper leg, as typically the staples are inserted in the holes of this leg manually before the clip is fitted to the apparatus that drives the staples through the belt and crimps them on the bottom side of the belt. The problem is ensuring that the staples actually do line up with and pass through the holes in the bottom connector-clip leg. Any slight misalignment and the job is ruined, as the staple will strike the clip and not pass through it, requiring that it be painstakingly pulled out and that another staple be driven through the belt end without following the hole made by the pulled-out staple.
The simplest solution is to make the holes in the bottom clip leg fairly large so that the chances of missing them are reduced. Such construction has of course the disadvantage that the staple fits loosely through this leg of the clip, weakening the connection. This is particularly problematic when the clip is made of light sheet metal.